Alzarri Joseph in contention for West Indies first ODI squad against Netherlands
West Indies white-ball captain Nicholas Pooran revealed in a press conference earlier today that Alzarri Joseph, who is just coming off a stint with IPL champions Gujarat Titans, could play in tomorrow’s match.
The West Indies are set to begin their first of three ODIs against the Netherlands tomorrow.
On the eve of the series opener, Pooran confirmed that fast bowler Alzarri Joseph, fresh off a title-winning IPL stint with Gujarat Titans, would be in "contention for selection" for Tuesday's ODI.
Pooran said, “He’d be in contention for selection in tomorrow’s games and hopefully he’ll be ready to play and hopefully ha can bring that IPL experience across as well for us.”
This tour of Netherlands is the first-ever ODI Series between the two teams. However, the captain noted that the team would not be complacent heading into the match as they are aware of the strength of the Netherland team.
“We’re looking to be successful together as a group and as a team and that’s our goal. So my mindset is, try to get the guys heading in the same direction so that we can be victorious.”
Taking not of the fact that former captain Kieron Pollard often voiced frustrations over failings in the team’s batting.
Pooran has previously captained West Indies in two ODIs and eight T20Is and Guyana Amazon Warriors in the CPL, and was confirmed as Kieron Pollard's successor earlier this month after serving as his deputy in recent years.
In his new role leading the squad, the 26-year-old expressed confidence in the team.
“Obviously we believe in ourselves. Last series to now we had two months, guys went back home there was a camp in Antigua as well, a lot of guys went there and worked on their batting as well. And what they learned in that camp they can obviously go out tomorrow in the series and try to execute what they learned. Again, we can’t make runs every single game but hopefully as a team we can just learn from our mistakes and from the past and hopefully the future is bright. We can start batting properly as a batting unit.”
The first match is slated for May 31 while the remaining two will be held on June 2 and 4.
This series, and the following series in Pakistan from June 8 to 12, form part of the ICC ODI Super League, where teams will have the opportunity to earn points to secure one of the top seven places, excluding hosts India, to gain automatic qualification for the 2023 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.
FULL MATCH SCHEDULE
West Indies tour of Netherlands
May 31: 1st ODI at VRA Cricket Ground, Amstelveen
June 2: 2nd ODI at VRA Cricket Ground, Amstelveen
June 4: 3rd ODI at VRA Cricket Ground, Amstelveen
(CWI, ESPN Cric Info)
